Purpose: To self-test your understanding of words related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression

Procedure: Match the words with the appropriate definition on the handout. The answer key is below. If you get 20 or more correct answers, you are well-versed in this subject. If you have 15 or fewer correct answers, please review the Glossary, Appendix 2, and visit some of the Web sites listed in Resources, Appendix 1.

Handout:

1. _______________________ Native American term for a person born with one biological sex and fulfilling at least some of the gender roles assigned to both sexes; considered part male and part female or wholly male and wholly female; often revered as a natural peace maker, healer, and shaman
2. ______________________ Having the genitalia, chromosomes, and hormones of females or males
3. ______________________ An umbrella term for all individuals who are outside the boundaries of biological sex and culturally determined gender expression
4. ______________________ A woman who feels romantic, emotional, and sexual attraction to other women
5. ______________________ Feeling romantic, emotional, and sexual attraction to both males and females; a normal sexual orientation of no known cause
6. ______________________ Physical characteristics that appear at puberty, including pubic hair as well as facial and chest hair (males) and breasts (females)
7. ______________________ Process of becoming aware of one's sexual orientation, accepting it, and sharing it with at least a few others
8. ______________________ A term from the African American/black GLBTQ community and used by people of color who may see 'gay' and 'lesbian' as terms of the white GLBTQ community
9. ______________________ Social and cultural expression of biological sex
10. ______________________ Feeling romantic, emotional, and sexual attraction to those of the opposite sex; a normal sexual orientation of no known cause
11. ______________________ Characteristics present at birth and used to identify the sex of the infant — specifically, the penis and scrotum of males; the vulva, vagina, clitoris, and labia of females
12. ______________________ The ways in which an individual communicates gender to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyle, voice, and/or emphasis or de-emphasis of bodily characteristics
13. ______________________ A once derogatory term that has been reclaimed by some members of the GLBTQ community; an umbrella term for people whose sexual orientation and/or gender identity does not conform to mainstream cultural norms or models
14. ______________________ A term to describe males who engage in sexual behaviors with other men; includes men who self-identify as heterosexual as well as gay and bisexual men
15. ______________________ Being born with some degree of ambiguity in regard to genitalia and/or reproductive system
16. ______________________ A person born biologically female who identifies as a male and takes on the sex, gender, and identity of a male through surgery, medications, mannerisms, dress, and/or behavior
17. ______________________ Romantic, emotional, and sexual attraction to others, categorized by the sex of the people to whom one is attracted
18. ______________________ Preferred term for people who usually identify with their own sex and gender but who sometimes wear the clothing, jewelry, etc., of the other gender to fulfill emotional needs
19. ______________________ Being unsure of one's sexual orientation and/or gender identity or feeling uncomfortable with the available categories (i.e., gay, straight, male, female, etc.)
20. ______________________ The state of feeling alone and apart from others and a cause of deep psychological distress in humans as in other social animals
21. ______________________ Surgical procedures to modify one's primary and/or secondary sex characteristics
22. ______________________ A person born male who self-identifies as female and takes on the sex, gender, and identity of a female through medications, surgery, mannerisms, dress, and/or behaviors
23. ______________________ Feeling romantic, emotional, and sexual attraction to members of the same sex; a normal sexual orientation of now known cause
24. ______________________ One's innermost sense of self as male or female, as lying somewhere between these two genders, or as outside gender lines altogether
25. ______________________ An umbrella term for anyone whose sexuality is expressed in less common ways; may include people who self-identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, Two-Spirit, third gender, and so on

Answer Key: 1) Two-Spirit; 2) sex (biological sex); 3) transgender; 4) lesbian; 5) bisexuality; 6) secondary sex characteristics; 7) coming out; 8) same-gender loving; 9) gender; 10) heterosexuality; 11) primary sex characteristics; 12) gender expression; 13) queer; 14) men who have sex with men; 15) intersex; 16) female-to-male; 17) sexual orientation; 18) crossdressers; 19) questioning; 20) isolation; 21) sexual reassignment surgery; 22) male-to-female; 23) homosexuality; 24) gender identity; 25) sexual minority.
* Adapted and reprinted with permission of the Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation (CESO).